This invention relates, but is not necessarily limited to, sterile back surgical gowns worn by surgeons and other sterile personnel and of the back-opening type in which there is a back closure panel that is initially in an open folded position and that is unfolded to a closed position where it overlaps the back of the gown; and the invention resides more specifically in a belt closure for such gowns or similar or related items. Certain features of the preferred embodiment shown and described herein are described and claimed in the copending application of Phyllis J. Horan, Ser. No. 644,045 filed Dec. 24, 1975, for "Side Belted Surgical Gown or the Like."
There are numerous ways of closing surgical gowns, but belt closures are preferred in many cases because of their simplicity and strength, and because they make it relatively easy to adjust the size of the gown to the particular wearer. Previously devised belt closures have not, however, proven entirely satisfactory. In most known belt closures, for example, the belt closure is made across the front of the gown and this causes some serious problems. For one thing, the material at the front is gathered under the belt and creates pockets which can trap surgical fluids and can easily result in "strike through" -- gown materials are usually only moisture repellent as opposed to moisture proof, and fluids can go through the material if they are held against it long enough. Any passage of fluid through the materials destroys sterility, since bacteria from the wearer can then easily move outwardly through the material into the operative area. There is also a problem with front belted gowns when the wearer raises his arms during a procedure, since the gown material will be pulled above the belt and will blouse out when the wearer lowers his arms. The bloused material may interfere with the wearer's freedom of movement, and there is a temptation to pull it back below the belt by grasping the gown below the level of the table, which is a non-sterile area.
Known belt closures are also unsatisfactory in those situations where it is necessary or desirable to maintain sterility at the back as well as the front of the gown. This is necessary for those procedures where the wearer must turn his back toward the operative area; and it is desirable, for example, where two persons are working side by side, to avoid one having to pirouette about the other back to back when they change positions so that his gown front will not come near the gown back of the other.
Sterile back gowns generally have an inner back panel and an outer closure panel that is initially folded back on itself so that what will ultimately be the sterile outer surface is protected during donning. After the gown is donned, the closure panel is unfolded, so that it overlaps the inner panel and extends toward one side of the gown, and then secured. This type of gown is generally very satisfactory, but it can be difficult with a belt closure to provide means for handling and securing the closure panel quickly and properly without loss of sterility.
The noted and other problems involved in providing fully satisfactory belt closures can be complicated in the case of the disposable gowns now being used more and more frequently, largely because the material from which such gowns are made does not have all the physical strength of the cloth from which reusable gowns are generally made.